Ball joint



y 22, 1951 J. H. BOOTH 2,553,743

BALL JQINT Filed Sept. 13, 1946 a El\ K m" a" A? c A INVENTOR.

Patented May 22, -1951 UNITED "PATENT OF F LLICE claims. (omen-e0) '1 This invention :relates "to joints aocommodating limited universal movements, rand jihaving automatic wear'take up features xwithoutrrequiring heretofore-necessary -'wear take-nip springs.

Specifically, the invention deals 'with aball and socket joint having a hardenedisteelzbearing ring partially encompassing the ballrend ro'f a stud, "and a 'eompress'ively iloaded .ires'ilientzszring "holding a plas'ticbr metal fragmentalispherical shaped collar around an adjacentpart ofathezrball end "of the stud 1 to coact :with the/steel iringlin providing a ball so'cket.

Aocording -to this invention, a housingznrizcasing is provided-with a cylindrical chambershavthe wheel suspension armof an'automob-ilafront wheel assembly. A har'dened Jsteel bearing :ring is seated'in the chamber against thelfi'rstfshoulder. This ring has. an' inner wall of '-'fragmenta1 spherical -contour -:oonverging fi'nto alignment withthe aperture-in the 'en'd wall of thi'housing. A rubber ring is -seated in the *chamber against -the steel ring and ;has a fragmental spherical inner wall carryingsa collar "orliner which -ooacts -with the. inner wall o'fthe steelringto provide a ball seat. A ball stud has' the -ball-end thereof tiltable and rotatahle'on said ball seat, and "has ea. shank extending freely "through the aperture in -the end :wau of' the hous'mg. EA closure plug is seated' in the counterbore against the second shoulder an'd sthe housing "is spun under'the peripheraln'iarg'in of i the closureplug to secure the plug' in: the-housing. 'Ihe plug-compressively loads the rubberring and partially deforms :the ring into "a central 'recess'provided in the plug. "The 'ball can project into 11 this recess. A lubricant fitting on the plug is provide'd-ito fur- 'nish lubricant to the'recess for lubricating the bearing surfaces of the ball en'd rand ba1l seat.

The loaded rubber ring;prferably com'posed of 1 oil-resistant synthetic rubber; takes the place of the heretofore-necessary wear take-up spring, and is effective to-expand for urging its liner into constant bearing engagement with 'the ball end ofthe stud, -and to-a1so urge the"ball= end of the stu'd toward the convergent endofthe inner wall of -theihardene'dsteel-ring.

It-is, then, an object of this invention to provide a universal-type joint wherein a stel ring and a linedrubber'*ring-*coact todefine aa socket,

wparts-are. assembled.

'?2.I1d wherein "the :rubber :ring is c'compressively loaded .to iimpart wear 'takeeup properties I'tO the :sooket.

. Another object of :the invention is .to' provide a ball sandi-socket' j ointx wherein'iajhardenedisteel 'ring and a plasticilined rubber'ring' co'act"to:de- :fine-abah socket, and-wherein; a housing closure plug" compressively loads itheTlllbbel" ringto-zcause it to function as a. .weartake-up means.

'Astill further object-of the x invention is to provideian. inexpensive tballiandisocketrtype joint for wheel ssuspensionsvands. the like. and havingsa .compressively lloaded :rubber .-.ring iztaking the tplace.nfz the heretoforeeusedzwear .takeeup spring ing an apertured send twau .atsione sen-dithered: "F116 w t ou sacrificingzwearitakewprropevtiesprovidinga"first shoulder and a ioounterbore in C-Azfurther object of the invention is 'to provide the other end 'thereof providin'g 'a seconds'shoula pringless b lland so k ioin h vine whard- -der. The houSlngfiorrcas'ing has-.al-laterally .ex- :"enedisteel' ballseat-anda plastic 'complementary t n 't or-isha.nk;a'da,pted for moufitingTin ball.seat,-together with a compressively loaded a bracket such as, for example,.thelbracket on 520 resilient bushing member maintain'ingthe seat :insgood bearing engagement :with 'theball'zstud. Other andifurther objects of the invention' will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description of the -annexed sheet :ofxdrawings whichgby'way of a preferred example only, illustrates one embo'dimentof' the invention.

On :-the:drawings Figure 11 'is a plan view of a ball :and socket 'j oint according to this 1 invention.

:Figure. 2 .is alongitudinal cross-sectionzilview taken alongithe line 'II'II of Figure l.

Figurei 3 is aview similar to"Figure"'2 but illustratingithejoint parts in separated or explode'd relationship toy-show the manner in= which the Figure l -is a horizontal 'cross sectional view,

'WithLthe :ball stu'd 01nitted,'taken along the 'line As shown 1 on the drawings:

In' Fig-ures'l, '2, and 4, the reference numeral 10' designates generally a 'balland socket joint for a wheel suspension arm. "Thejoint ID includes a cylindrical housing or-casing H having a laterally extending-mounting shankor stem-l2. "Bolt holes I3 are formed through the shankorstem =1 2- toanchor the housing in the mounting bracket or "the" like of a wheelsuspensionarm.

'As best shown in Figure *3, the cylindrical housing I l has-a cylindrical bore 1-4" therethrough terminating'at'oneend in an' apertured-en'd wall I 5 having a central aperture I 6 therein. The end wall I5 provides a shoulder ll at one' end of the '--bore 1 M. The other-"end of the bore It I4 is "-55 counterbored at l8 and a=secondsho ulder l9 is provided. The housing thus has a cylindrical chamber 20 bounded at one end by a first shoulder l1 and at the other end by a second shoulder [9.

A hardened steel bearing ring 2|, having a cylindrical periphery Zia sized for fitting in-the bore M is bottomed in the chamber 28 against the first'ishoulder l1. If desired, the hardened steel ring 2! may be press-fitted in the bore 16. The ring 2i has a fragmental spherical inner wall 2lb converging to an opening 2lc. A beveled mouth Zld is provided around the opening 2lc. As shown in Figure 2, the mouth '2 Id flares outwardly to the rim of the aperture IS in the end wall so that the bearing ring 2| will not interfere with free tilting movements of member 22 of the joint.

The stud 22 has a ball end 2211 disposed in the chamber of the casing H, a neck portion 22b extending through the aperture it of the casing, a tapered portion 220 outside of the casing for mounting in the eye end of a Wheel bracketor the like, and a cylindrical threaded end portion 22d for receiving a nut thereon (not shown). The portion of the ball end 2211 adjacent the neck 22?) is tiltable and rotatable on the interior bearing wall 2lbof the bearing ring 2!, and this bearing ring extends to the major diameter or great circle of the ball end 22a as shown.

A relatively rigid collar 23 composed of metal, non-squeaking plastic material, lubricant-um pregnated metal, or the like is provided to receive the free 'end of the ball end 22a. This collar 23 is in the form of a fragmental spherical shell and converges from the great circle of the ball end 22a to a reduced-diameter opening accommodating-the tip end of the ball therethrough as-shown. The opening lie and this reduced opening 23a of the collar have about the same diameter. As best shown in Figure 4, the interior of the collar has grooves 23b'extending from the top to the bottom thereof for accommodating passage of lubricant.

A rubber ring 2% having a cylindrical outer wall 24a sized for fitting in the bore M, and a fragmental spherical inner wall 24b sized for receiving the collar 23 is seated in the chamber 29 against the steel ring 2|. This rubber ring 24 is preferably composed of lubricant-resisting synthetic resilient plastic material. The ring seats the collar 23 and acts as a resilient mounting or backing member for the collar.

-A closure disk 25 has a cylindrical periphery 25a sized for seating in the counterbore iii to gether with a flat peripheral top face 2512 surrounding a central recess or depressed portion 250. The closure plate 25 is seated in the counterbore A8 to bottom its top face 251) against the second shoulder 19 in the chamber. When so bottomed in the counterbore, the closure plate top face 25b compressively loads the rubber ring 24 to deform a portion of the ring into depressed well portion 250 as best shown in Figure 2. A portion of the housing is then spun under the closure plate 25 as at 26 to lock the plate in the housing.

Lubricant fitting 21 is threaded into the central portion of the closure plug 25 to supply lubricant to the well or space provided by the recess 250. This lubricant is then in full communication with the ball end 22a of the stud and can readily flow through the lubricant grooves 23b in the collar 23 into the steel ring 2 I. As a result, the ball end of the stud and its bearing surfaces ,are readily lubricated the stud iii) It is a feature of this invention to provide a backing member for the bearing collar 23 which has a high form factor. The term form factor" may be defined as the ratio of the loaded surfaces of a rubber block to the total surface.

Since in the present invention, only a small portion of the rubber ring 24 adjacent the recess 250 is unconfined, the ratio of the loaded surfaces to the total surfaces is high. Thus the backing member has a high form factor.

The compressive loading of the rubber ring 24 and the confining of this ring except for that small portion which is in communication with the recess 250 as shown in Figure 2 serves to provide a high form factor for the rubber accommodating some further deformation but effectively resiliently resisting further deformation to provide a spring-like action on the collar 23 and through the collar on the ball end 22a. The collar is thus resiliently urged toward the great diameter of the ball end 2211 and the ball end, in turn, is urged into the converging end of the inner wall 2 lb of the bearing ring 2 I. This action insures the taking up of wear as the joint is used,'iand prevents looseness from developing between the parts.

The joint of this invention is easily assembled as shown in Figure 3 by first inserting the steel ring 2| into position in the chamber 20, by next dropping the stud shank through the bearing ring and aperture of the housing to seat the ball end 22a on the bearing wall 2lb'of the ring, and by inserting the collar 23 over the projecting portion of the ball end. It should be noted that this collar is bottomed on the steel ring 2| and therefore cannot tilt-or cook. The rubber ring is then inserted inthe chamber around the collar 23, and the closure plug is next spun into position. If desired, the collar 23 can be vulcanized or otherwise bonded to the rubber ring 24.

From the'above descriptions it will be understood that the invention aifords an inexpensive ball and socket type joint free from springs and still having wear take-up properties.

It will,- of course, be understood that various details of. construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated-by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A ball and socket joint comprising a housing having a cylindrical chamber with an apertured end wall at one end providing a first shoulder and a counterbore at the other end providing a second shoulder, a mounting stem projecting from said housing, a hard steel bearing ring in said-chamber bottomed on said first shoulder, said ring having an inner wall of fragmental-spherical contour converging to an opening aligned with the aperture in said end wall, a ball stud having a shank projecting freely through said opening and aperture together with a ball end partially encased by said bearing ring in bearing engagement with the interior wall thereof, a relatively rigid fragmental spherical collar bottomed on the bearing ring and receiving the free end of the ball end therein, a rubber ring in said chamber in nesting relation with said collar, and a closure plug in said counterbore bottomed on the second shoulder, said housing being deformed under the peripheral margin of the closure plug to secure the plug in the housing. said plug having acentral recessed por- 23 tion and a peripheral face portion thrusting against said rubber ring to compressively load the ring. and partially flow it into the recessed portion thereof whereby said loaded rubber ring will resiliently maintain the bearing parts in good bearing relation.

2. A ball and socket type joint comprising a casing, a hard metal bearing seat in said casing, a ball stud having a ball end tiltable and rotatable in said seat, a fragmental spherical bearing collar receiving a portion of said ball end of the stud, a rubber ring surrounding said collar, and closure means for housing loading said rubber ring against the collar and bearing ring for maintaining the parts in good bearing relationship.

3. A joint construction comprising an apertured casing, a stud having a head in said casing and a shank projecting freely through the aperture in said casing, a rigid bearing member embracing a portion of the stud head in said casing, a second bearing member embracing another portion of the stud head in said casing, a rubber bushing surrounding said second bearing memher in said casing, a closure plug for said casing compressively loading said rubber bushing, and said closure plug having a recess into which a relatively small portion of the rubber bushing is deformed when compressively loaded, whereby said rubber bushing will have a high form factor but will function to resiliently maintain the parts in good bearing engagement.

4. A ball and socket joint comprising a housing having an end wall with an aperture therethrough, a hard steel bearing ring seated in said housing against said end wall, said bearing ring having an internal bearing wall converging toward the aperture through said end wall, a ball stud having a shank projecting through said aperture, a ball end on said ball stud tiltable and rotatable on said internal bearing wall of said bearing ring, a plastic fragmental spherical collar bottomed on said bearing ring and receiving a portion of the ball end of the stud therein, a

rubber bushing surrounding said collar in said housing, and a closure plug secured in said housing against said rubber bushing to compressively load said rubber bushing, whereby said rubber bushing will urge the plastic collar toward the great circle of said ball end and thereby urge the ball end toward the convergent end of the bearing wall of said bearing ring to maintain the joint parts in good bearing relationship.

5. A ball and socket joint comprising a housing having an apertured end wall, a hardened metal bearing ring in said housing adjacent said end wall and defining a fragmental spherical ball seat, a ball stud having a shank extending freely through said bearing ring and apertured end wall and a head tiltable and rotatable on said seat, an open-ended fragmental spherical collar seated on the portion of the ball end of the stud projecting from said seat, a rubber backing member surrounding said collar in snug engagement in said housing, a closure plug anchored in said housing in thrusting engagement with the rubber backing member, said closure plugv having a central recess and said closure plug deforming a portion of the rubber backing member into said recess, and a lubricant fitting on said closure plug communicating with said recess to supply lubricant to the recess and thence to the ball stud.

6. A ball and socket joint comprising a casing having an aperture in one wall, a stud having a ball end in said casing and a shank projecting freely through the aperture in said casing, a rigid bearing member embracing a portion of the ball end in said casing, a resilient ring member embracing another portion of said ball end, and means for compressively loading said resilient member, said loaded resilient member maintaining a pressure on said ball end to urge said end against said rigid bearing member to maintain the bearing relationship between the ball end and the rigid bearing member.

JAMES H. BOOTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,048,803 Marles July 28, 1936 2,383,378 Flumerfelt Aug. 21, 1945 2,417,160 Graham Mar. 11, 1947 2,424,431 Booth July 22, 1947 2,471,672- Booth May 31, 1949 

